US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Data on durable goods orders for October, weekly jobless claims and consumer spending for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI for November will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for November will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for October and the pending home sales index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 12 points to 17,820.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2 points to 2,069.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 6.50 points to 4,299.00.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.17%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.28%. German DAX 30 index climbed 0.67%, French CAC 40 Index jumped 0.05% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.23%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.12%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.43% and India's Sensex gained 0.17%.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Dreamworks Animation SKG

from Equal-weight to Overweight. The price target for Dreamworks Animation has been raised from $22 to $27. Dreamworks Animation' shares closed at $23.11 yesterday.